Zhou Dynasty

The national flag of China depicts four small stars surrounding a large central star amongst a red background. Adopted in 1949, the “Five-Star Red Flag” represented a new wave of thinking in China that promoted communism. Mao Zedong, the founder of The People’s Republic of China, assumed power of China through support of peasants in the hopes of creating a country that was united. Mao insisted that a Cultural Revolution needed a nationwide class struggle in order to create an equal society.…

The Chinese Cultural Revolution Grew up and educated in China, the Chinese Cultural Revolution was only briefly mentioned in my history class. The way the textbook described the Cultural Revolution, made it seems so insignificant and “normal”. Living abroad, with access to more information, I want to uncover it from the “history textbook”. First, I want to know how exactly the Cultural Revolution happened and evolved. The Cultural Revolution started in 1966 by Chairman Mao Zedong and the…

Within 50 years, from 1949 to the end of the 20th century, the People 's Republic of China has gone from a poor, isolated, under-developed, overpopulated country to one of the biggest economies and most powerful countries in the world. That 50-year journey was long, difficult and different at various periods for the people of China. To elaborate, contradicted to the fact that the Communist Party of China has been the one dominant political regime, China has witnessed many changes within the…

During the Qing Dynasty, many rebellions were started. Having numerous rebellions during the Qing Dynasty caused many Chinese to suffer. After the Qing Dynasty ended, China went under Communist rule was supposed to improve the Chinese lifestyle. It was soon realized that Communist rule wasn’t much better than the Qing Dynasty due to the amount of intense labor everyone had to experience. Which means that both the Qing Dynasty and Communist rule failed at creating a peaceful lifestyle for the…

Cultural Revolution Tsun Hin Ng 9E Introduction The Cultural Revolution was a movement that took place in China during 1966 to 1976 aiming to cancel traditional thoughts and practices such as confucianism and to strengthen the thoughts of communism. He also aimed to have a fair and equal community amongst the people. Background Information – Before the Revolution Before the Cultural Revolution, Mao launched a movement called the ‘Great Leap Forward’. This movement aimed on industrialising…

As the main leader of China during a period of violence, poverty, and a failed Communist revolution, Mao Zedong has immortalized himself as a villain of China’s past, but also as a contributor to China’s modern governing system. Burdened with the desire to see equality throughout China, Mao turned to the students of China to help him seize power and maintain control over all of its citizens through violent and abusive means. Although he brought a terror, death, and harm to China during his time…

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang is a memoir about the author when she was in middle school in communist China. The book details her family’s brutal experience during the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Under Chairman Mao Ze-dong’s terrifying rule, the country of China fell into disarray and poverty and many people died. Chairman Mao brought up poor people and punished rich people. He made it so that no one had trust in one another. The following paragraphs will address characters’ desire to belong,…

“It will be like that until someone decides to change it. All of it. But how did you change an entire culture? Revolutions were about politics, not perceptions, weren 't they?” (“A Quote from Infidel”). I believe this quote really defines what the Cultural Revolution was all about because the Cultural Revolution started with one man with a vision to shape China’s future, and that man was Mao Zedong. He wanted to spread his ideologies across China and impose his beliefs. He paved the way for the…

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the creation of the People’s Republic of China. China followed the Soviet model of government from 1949 to 1959, but the Soviet model relied heavily on a large industrial population. China did not have a large industrial population (Stanton 2016). Instead, Mao made the foundation of his revolution the peasants (Marlay and Neher 1999). Mao instigated a reworking of Chinese society during his rule, as Mao strictly believed that change must be the constant…

A Decade of History Much of the Western world associates Chines with the restriction of individual expression. This view was enhanced by the West’s observations of repression under the political leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the Cultural Revolution that was started by Chairman Mao Zedong to strengthen his control over the Chinese government and renew the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese people, and in particular, the youth of China. Mao Zedong…